Drinking is embedded in army culture

Cassandra Jardine is not surprised by a report which found that 22 per cent of
soldiers who had been to Iraq and Afghanistan were drinking to excess.

It is tempting to read the latest report on binge drinking in the Armed Forces as evidence of incipient Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Modern warfare is tough. Today’s forces have to deal with constant fear and uncertainty from insurgents; often it is impossible to tell friend from foe. It seems logical that those conditions would be more harmful to mental health than the clear battlelines of yesteryear. And yet the latest research tells us otherwise.

According to an MOD-funded survey of nearly 10,000 current and recent service-people, the incidence of PTSD remains constant at 3-4 per cent, far lower than in the US forces.

That’s good news. No doubt our low rate is partly due to short spells of duty, improved identification of those at risk, and to “decompression” - ie time off in Cyprus to talk over their experiences before returning home.

But the study also contains the worrying information that 22 per cent of those who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan are drinking to excess. (Excess, in this instance, involves respondents admitting that drink is interfering with the rest of their lives.) Since only 13 per cent of non-deployed troops confess to drink problems, booze could be masking PTSD.

That conclusion seems plausible since the charity Combat Stress finds that, on average, people wait 14 years to report PTSD, and in the mean time abuse drink and drugs. If so, these drinking levels suggest a mental health time bomb, and not just a problems for the liver specialists.

Professor Matthew Hotopf, a psychiatrist and one of the authors of this study, draws a diffeent conclusion. “PTSD doesn’t develop later,” he says. “The symptoms will have been present all along.” And those in the survey did not report any of the symptoms, which include nightmares and flashbacks.

In other words, our forces are drinking too much, not because they are traumatised, but for other reasons. That is scarcely surprising. Society at large has a drink problem. If the forces are leading the charge it is to be expected. We are tallking about young people, away from home.

But it’s more than that. Drinking is embedded in their culture; it is almost part of the job. While in Iraq and Afghanistan troops are not allowed to touch a drop but, before and afterwards, drinking is seen both as crucial to team-building , and to relaxation after stress.

It works well. Research shows that the units that drink most together, have higher morale. So drinking is encouraged. It’s for the Army to decide what, if anything, they wish to do about the booze culture. But Combat Stress, on the strength of this report, is considering the provision of detox services. If alcohol abuse does turn out sometimes to mask PTSD, those cases would get help sooner.